— Originally published in The Diplomat. To read about the results of the election go here. — When Asia’s youngest nation heads to the polls for the second time in a year on May 12, Abel Da Costa just wants someone to win. Da Costa, 66, is a school teacher in Manleuana, a quickly growing

I’ve been living in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste since February. It is one of the world’s smallest and newest nations. Just over one million people live on half an island shared with Indonesia, independent since 2002. For a more complete background of this fascinating place see my previous post: Timor-Leste: a teenage nation as

I’ve been living in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste since February. It is one of the world’s smallest and newest nations. Just over one million people live on half an island shared with Indonesia, independent since 2002. For a more complete background of this fascinating place see my previous post: Timor-Leste: a teenage nation. Politics

TL is a teenage nation—and I’m not referring to the post-independence population boom that fills the capital streets with boys and girls in school uniforms. It’s a nation with plenty of problems, a nation who still doesn’t really know who it is, but also a nation that is just beginning to scratch the surface of its potential.

It is a city that lives in the shadow of a volcano. A city of sharp contrasts. A city that is politically radical and socially conservative. A city that met me at the right time, when I was ripe to fall in love with a place. When I arrived that first time, more than a decade

Last year I went to the NYC marathon as a spectator. It was incredible. It was one of the most positive environments I had ever been a part of. There was no other team to root against, no one you wanted to do poorly. Every person there was cheering wildly for complete strangers. Many people